It is highly desirable to provide a light weight plastic container and preform for forming same.
Conventionally, the neck finish on plastic containers, as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), has a threaded or snap-on area with an intermediate, outwardly extending support flange. The support flange is used as a feature to enable one to transfer preforms into a blow mold and to enable one to remove the blown container out of the blow mold, for example, on a high speed, two stage blow molding machine.
However, this neck finish requires 3 to 4 grams of plastic and adds considerably to the overall weight of the preform and the final container.
It would be highly desirable to simplify and light weight these structures, especially with an improved configuration which enables simpler and more convenient handling in the overall process cycle.
It would also be advantageous to provide a light weight container and preform which would enable more rapid cycle times and cost reduction. It would be further advantageous to provide such a container which is recyclable.
Further objectives of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.